Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales, B

Reading Notes

In Reading B of the Jewish Fairy Tale unit I was really interested in the story the Higgledy-Piggledy Palace. As I stated in my last reading notes blog, Reading Notes, Jewish Fairy Tales (A), I grew up in a Christian household and was taught many Biblical stories both at home and in church. In fact, I was named after the biblical character, Sarah, who is considered to be the mother of the Jews and is the wife of Abraham. The Sarah and Abraham story I am familiar with is the story of how Sarah was very old and prayed for a child and finally was blessed with a child in her old age because of her faith and patience. In the story the Higgledy-Piggledy Palace, Sarah was young and so beautiful that she needed to be hidden from the Egyptians, but was found and taken to the Pharaoh anyways. I was impressed with the in depth details of Sarah's beauty and I would try to include this if I were to retell this story. Also, if I were to retell this story I would really enjoy telling it from the perspective of Sarah. Both in the biblical version and this version the story was written without her personal thoughts and feelings throughout the stories entirety so I think it would be fun to give Sarah a voice. Another aspect of the story I would change is some of the word choices, such as using the term spirit to the supernatural being that helps Sarah. In my opinion, since Sarah is praying to God for help it would be more clear for the spirit to be an angel of God.  I am really excited to retell this story from a new perspective and am thrilled that there is a story about the biblical Sarah.

(Biblical Sarah, Credit to Jim Padgett)

Bibliography

Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa

Reading Notes: Jewish Fairytales A

Reading Notes

When I was young, my parents would take me to Sunday School at church every Sunday morning. Because of this I was interested in reading the Jewish Fairy Tales and Fables unit, as I am familiar with some of the biblical stories. In the reading I was very surprised at how even though there were some similarities to the biblical versions, they were all stories that I had never heard of before. The story that stood out to me the most was The Giant of the Flood. This story wasn't necessarily my favorite, but I enjoyed the incorporation of a giant into the classic Noah's Ark story. What surprised me the most was the giant unicorn since it was in The Shepherd-Boy to King story as well, yet I have never encountered a unicorn in the biblical versions. Something I enjoyed about the story was the origins of wine and being drunk from the grape plant. In the bible there are many stories with wine or about drinking so it was interesting to read about this origin story of wine. In The Giant of the Flood I would change a few things if I were to retell it. Since the whole purpose of the Ark was to take animals in pairs so that they could reproduce when the flood ended, I may add another Unicorn as well as another giant to the story. Also, I may remove the parts about the bird and the lion because to me they seemed out of place in the story. The biggest change I would make is the ending, because I think it would be really interesting for the giant to be an ancestor of Goliath from the classic story David and Goliath. Instead of Moses killing the giant in the end, Og the giant could be allowed to live in exile and have children, which could explain how Goliath is so huge. 

(Noah's Ark, Credit to Edward Hicks)

Bibliography

The Giant of the Flood, from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa

Readings Notes: The Moon

The Moon:

Before reading all of the stories on the Myth-Folklore Anthology I was sure that I would choose to retell a story that I enjoyed, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. The story The Man in the Moon originated in Southeast Asia and is about a very fickle blacksmith whom constantly wishes to be something else until a wise man decided that the blacksmith will stay the moon. In my opinion, this story is meaningful and beautiful and deserves more detail than it was given in this telling. In accordance to this, the writing style of this story was short and choppy and could be more eloquently written.  I look forward to retelling this story with more detail and a different perspective!

(Man on the Moon, credit to Dunk at pixabay)

Reading Options

Reading Options

Never have I ever been in a class where I can choose what I would like to learn about, and I must say I am excited! The UnTextbook has so many options and resources that it is definitely going to be a challenge to narrow down which I am  most interested in. 

Readings of Interest

After browsing the types of readings I have found a few options that I believe I will really enjoy reading.

The first section that caught my attention was the Brothers Grimm units because Grimm's Fairy tales are already something I am familiar with. I am particularly interested in the Ashliman unit of the Brothers Grimm section since it is translated into contemporary English and has both familiar and unfamiliar stories.

(The Brothers Grimm, by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann)

The second unit that caught my attention was the Robin Hood unit. The story of Robin Hood is familiar, but it will be interesting to read, and even listen to,  the ballads that inspired the legends of Robin Hood.

Unlike the other two units that caught my interest, I am not as familiar with Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories. It is one of my life goals to visit the Great Pyramids of Egypt so I think it would be a great experience to read and learn about the Myths behind Ancient Egyptian culture.